Teach Yourself VISUALLY Jewelry Making and Beading (Teach Yourself VISUALLY Consumer) [Paperback]

Chris Franchetti Michaels (Author)

Book Description

Series: Teach Yourself VISUALLY Consumer | Publication Date: October 8, 2007

You've probably coveted jewelry you've seen in artsy boutiques and fashion magazines or envied friends who have the perfect bling to accent everything. With this book, you'll learn to craft designs that are chic but inexpensive. With hundreds of detailed photos, this book covers tools and supplies, bead stringing and weaving, wire wrapping, and more. Terrific projects will get you started and inspire you to create your own jewelry and beadwork designs.

Concise two-page lessons show you all the steps to a skill and are ideal for quick review

• Each skill or technique is defined and described

• Detailed color photos demonstrate each step

• Step-by-step instructions accompany each photo

• Helpful tips provide additional guidance

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Chris Franchetti Michaels is a writer and jewelry artisan specializing in beaded designs, wirework, and metal fabrication. She has written extensively about jewelry and jewelry making on the Internet since 2003, and she is the author of Beading VISUAL Quick Tips, Wire Jewelry VISUAL Quick Tips, and Teach Yourself VISUALLY Beadwork. Chris has also appeared on several episodes of the DIY Network television show Jewelry Making, and her designs have been featured in popular jewelry project books. Visit her website BeadJewelry.net for more help and inspiration.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: Visual; 1 edition (October 8, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0470101504
• ISBN-13: 978-0470101506
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 0.7 x 9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.9 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (90 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,554 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Chris Franchetti Michaels is an independent jewelry designer and author of several craft books, including the bestseller Teach Yourself Visually Jewelry Making & Beading. Her next book, More Teach Yourself Visually Jewelry Making, will help readers take their creativity to the next level with popular new techniques including cold connections, resin work, and leather craft. Chris is also the Guide to Beadwork on About.com (beadwork.about.com). Visit her personal jewelry making blog at www.beadjewelry.net.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

136 of 137 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ideal teaching tool for the dedicated beader, August 12, 2008

By 

H. Grove "Errant Dreams Reviews" (Maryland, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 500 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

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This review is from: Teach Yourself VISUALLY Jewelry Making and Beading (Teach Yourself VISUALLY Consumer) (Paperback)

If you want to get into beading & jewelry-making, Chris Franchetti Michaels's Teach Yourself VISUALLY Jewelry Making & Beading is a fantastic place to start. It's a thick book loaded with photographs, and it tackles a comprehensive spread of topics.

Thorough charts detail everything from the common lengths for various styles and sizes of necklaces (both men's and women's), bracelets, and anklets to common finishing methods used for different stringing materials. Photos clearly display techniques for knotting strings, creating eyepins and headpins (not to mention clasps), and making your own Byzantine chain from jump rings. Wire gauge is demonstrated visually, with an image of each gauge's thickness, and with examples of what each gauge is used for.

The book goes through bead-stringing techniques; wire-work; bead-weaving (by hand and on a loom) and even macrame. If you truly want to delve into beaded jewelry as more than just a way to make a few pieces for yourself, then I highly recommend grabbing a copy of Michaels's book. It's extremely valuable and highly instructional. The use of brief, clear instructions combined with a ton of tables and photographs make it a quick read that teaches you an incredible amount of material. It's also a fantastic quick-reference book for use while making your creations.

174 of 178 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Really great guide, November 14, 2007

By 

T. Decker (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Teach Yourself VISUALLY Jewelry Making and Beading (Teach Yourself VISUALLY Consumer) (Paperback)

This book is really great for telling you everything that you wanted to know about jewelry making of all types from wirework, to bead weaving, to macrame. It gives you the little details that other books leave out and answers all of the questions you may have. There are step-by-step pictures of each technique, so you don't have to "guess" at how something is done. I think that every jewelry creator should have this book on their shelf, especially if you are just learning.

115 of 118 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good book to start and grow with, November 9, 2007

By 

A T - See all my reviews

This review is from: Teach Yourself VISUALLY Jewelry Making and Beading (Teach Yourself VISUALLY Consumer) (Paperback)

I chose this book over others because it had chapters on both beginning techniques as well as more intermediate ones once you had mastered that. I also liked that it combined bead stringing, bead weaving and wire work all in one resource. Project ideas are provided but not as many as you might find in other books - just something to know depending on what you are looking for.